AZ Employer-Sanction Law Upheld on Appeal

The Arizona state law that would withdraw licenses from companies that employed undocumented workers was upheld by a Federal Appeals panel in San Francisco. It ruled that a state can use its licensing powers to enforce immigration related policies and that a state can require employers to use the federal E-Verify system to screen new hires. While the lawyers who challenged the law will ask for a hearing by the full Appeals Court, they do not seem ready to go to the Supreme Court. There is a somewhat mitigated employer-sanction proposal on the ballot in November, but the decision has sparked interest in the current law in other states. (See Arizona Republic article.)